An Internet Menage a Trois

After sleeping for most of the last eighteen hours--trying to shake whatever bug bit me--I'm ready to tackle the latest gossip about the Internet love triangle between Google, its new lover YouTube and its old lover MySpace. There was a lot of ink devoted to this subject while I was sleeping.

To recap for those who are just joining us: Two months ago, Google signed a $900 million deal with MySpace (a division of News Corp). In exchange for their cash infusion, Google would get to provide advertising and search to MySpace and other News Corp sites. Both sides seemed happy with their new partnership.

Then, on Friday, word began to leak out that Google was courting YouTube, MySpace's biggest competitor in the online video market. Not only that, on Monday, Google announced its intent to purchase YouTube for $1.65 billion (yes, that's billon, not a typo).

It makes one's head whirl. How would MySpace respond?

Well, according to the October 11th Wall Street Journal (WSJ), "Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and Advertising Sales Vice President Tim Armstrong are expected to meet this week in Los Angeles with News Corp. executives, including Chairman Rupert Murdoch, to discuss new ways of working together. One possibility is to expand Google's recently signed ad deal with social-networking site MySpace to include video advertising on the Web."

A menage a trois. How exciting.

Like all menages, this one has its kinks and turns. I reported yesterday that the News Corp's COO estimated that 60%-70% of YouTube’s traffic comes from MySpace. In theory, MySpace could redirect that traffic away from YouTube.

The WSJ article included a paragraph on this: "News Corp. executives over the weekend discussed cutting off the MySpace links to YouTube, according to a person close to the situation. YouTube says that less than 20% of video views on its site come from MySpace."

I'm guessing the truth is somewhere in between those twenty percent and sixty-plus percent numbers. And I agree with the WSJ: "It isn't clear whether News Corp. is still contemplating those threats. But a lot is riding on the outcome of Google's discussion with News Corp. executives this week."

I hear a bed calling. I'll talk about this some more tomorrow when--hopefully
--I'll be feeling more like my healthy, not fevered self.

In case you're wondering, the black-and-white kitten is currently residing in my guest bathroom, where she'll remain until she displays an interest in her new litter box. Thus far, I've refused to name the tiny thing although I've been calling her "Piglet" because of her prodigious appetite.